Are we back??

Don't be shocked. I'm blogging.

Kinda - it's a survey, does that count?

Christmas Survey

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate - Egg Nog is icky!!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
They are wrapped!

3. Colored or White lights on tree/house?
White lights

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
nope

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Usually either the day after Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day..this year, not at all.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Any of the veggies - casseroles! (But I really LOVE Peanut Butter Fudge!)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Going downstairs on Christmas morning to hear Granny Smith say "Ho,Ho,Ho Merry Christmas" in her deepest voice...while wearing her newly decorated sweatshirt and large colored lights necklace :)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
The same fateful night I learned about the Tooth Fairy. Thanks Dad. :)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Not with family. Maybe with friends.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
With all Winnie the Pooh ornaments

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I like to see it fall. I hate to be cold. And I really hate it when snow keeps me from going where I want to go or doing what I want to do.

12. Can you ice skate?
I've tried, but I'm not very good.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Yes. Do you want to know what it was?

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Jesus, of course! And it is the ONLY time of the year my whole family gets to be together. As more of my family is dying, I'm beginning to cherish even more the rare times we get to be together. We were never fortunate enough to live in the same area with our family so Christmas time is the only 2 days we have all year to actually see each other. It is brief, but it is special. I wouldn't miss it.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Peanut Butter Fudge

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Opening presents one at a time, so that we can actually enjoy what we all get and give and it doesn't go by so fast!

17. What tops your tree?
Nothing this year...tree is still in the box! Usually, an angel

18. Which do you prefer, giving or Receiving gifts?
Anybody who knows me at all knows I want to give the gifts.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
I am not a fan of Christmas music (in December!), but I love It Musta Been Ol' Santa...and ANYTHING Harry Connick, Jr. sings. I also love Child of God, Breath of Heaven, A Strange Way to Save the World, and lots of others.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
They are ok.

I'm too tired for Things I Love Thursday...So here's a Thursday Tag instead! :)

I AM: a friend, a teacher, a sister, a daughter, a writer, a reader, a listener, and soooo much more

I WANT: time to do everything I need to do and still have some time and energy left for those things I want to do.

I WISH: All my friends lived closer to me!!!

I HATE: not being able to fix things for people. Not like plumbing or electrical things, but those emotional, hurtful, unfixable things.

I MISS: being able to hear from people who are now gone.

I HEAR: kids laughing and playing and being released from the stress of End of Grade Tests.

I WONDER: why. A lot.

I REGRET: Very little. Even the things that would make most people say, "I wish I could do that again - differently" I don't think I would. Without those mistakes I wouldn't have learned what I now know and I would be a very different person. And I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I AM NOT: good at giving up control.

I DANCE: only in the kitchen...and then it has to be the "kitchen dance".

I SING: LOUDLY in the shower and in the car or just hanging around the house - and ALWAYS with ABBA, but I sing more quietly when around other people.

I CRY: when I am sad, angry, too happy, hurt, at Oreo commercials, basically, all the time! I'm not a weeper. It just seems that EVERY emotion, good or bad, can cause me to tear up pretty easily!

I AM NOT ALWAYS: patient. I am not always right. (Someone else should write that down!! I don't say that too very much!)

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: words and music, messes and organized stacks!

I WRITE: things that are important, things I want to remember, things I want to forget, things that make me think, things that make me laugh. I write at night, in dark rooms with only enough light to see what I am doing. I write things that many others will one day see. I write down things that no one will ever see. I write when I am upset. I write when I am happy. I write when I am confused. This year, I forgot to write...until just recently. Its kind of like I suddenly remembered who I am again.

I CONFUSE: laughter with happiness.

I NEED: a nap!!!!

I SHOULD: finish something before I start something else! I should work ONE job only! I should REST a minute!

I START: lots of projects...at the same time

I FINISH: every book I start....eventually! Some take a little longer than others!

I'M GLAD: that I have been blessed with the friends I have.

I LIVE: life really fast. It fills up so quickly and it passes before I know it. Someone slow this down!!

I PRAY: at the strangest moments and I often say the strangest things. I can just see God shake His head at me...of course, He's not shocked by what I am saying! It's not like He didn't know it was coming!!

I SEEK: peace.

I WOULD RATHER: work with children than adults.

I PREFER: to not play games in relationships - in any relationship. I want people to just tell me what they think and feel (tactfully, if possible) and then move forward!

I KNOW: how to make people laugh - usually.

I MUST HAVE: chocolate, books, alone time, music and friends - these are not in the order of importance...usually. :)

I HOPE: to one day find the right man at the right time to share the rest of my life with - but, more importantly, I hope to continue to be the kind of person who is VERY happy with life the way it is...to not sit around thinking that something is missing just because I'm not married or I'm not a mom, or something like that.

OK girls....this is a philosophical tag, but fun nonetheless! Enjoy...and TAG - YOU'RE IT!! Bina, Brooke, Sarai, Kim, Maleah, Beth, Laura - go for it!

Wacky Wednesday Tag

1. YOUR FULL NAME: Lori Jean Gilbert...it could be worse, right?

2. WHAT COLOR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW? Black

3. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? grilled fish (not for breakfast...that was dinner last night!)

4. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Anthony Giordano - weird! but true!

5. THE WORST ADVICE YOU EVER GOT: "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours. If it doesn't, it was never yours in the first place." I would like to have plunged a fork directly into the eye of anyone who ever told me this when Rob and split up. It was so helpful.

6. ONE THING YOU SWORE YOU WOULD NEVER DO: have a pet bat?? I don't know. I'm sure there are lots of these.

7. NAME SOMETHING YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX: sense of humor, sense of responsibility, sense of commitment, great smile

8. SOMETHING YOU ARE PROUD TO SAY THAT YOU CAN DO: Sign Language

9. SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT SO PROUD THAT YOU CAN DO: Get easily frustrated!!!

10. SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU COULD DO: Trust more easily

11. SOMETHING YOU SAY TOO OFTEN: This is a no brainer! "ShutUp!" and "Friend" are frequently uttered

12. SOMETHING YOUR CHILDREN WILL LOVE YOU FOR WHEN THEY ARE GROWN: probably the same things they are embarrassed by: my sense of humor, laughing too much or too loud!, hopefully they will love that they can talk to me without fear of judgment. HOPEFULLY.

13. YOUR BIRTHDAY: May 22, 1974

14. YOUR COLLEGE DEGREE: Bachelors in Education (Deaf Ed., Elementary Ed., Middle Grades Ed., Secondary Ed., Special Ed. and a Reading Certification - I couldn't pick one!)

15. BEST REASON FOR DOING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE: This was more fun than the stuff I SHOULD have been doing. Besides, I've been tagged by everyone I know! :) There's no one left to tag...except Maleah who has apparently given up blogging for the year! :)

Fun! I have a new tag to be done....I'll have to find it and post it next.

PS

I meant to write this yesterday, but I was so excited about blogging again that I just forgot!

More Wicked thoughts:
I know that the songs Popular and What is This Feeling are crowd pleasers. Stephen Schwartz even talks about them being "bubble gum songs" that are just there as extras - to bring the crowd in. They are fun and I love singing along with them as much as the next person, but the song that is my new favorite is For Good. Sitting in the theater with two people who are friends like this to me as well as thinking about the amazing friends in my life just made this an even more amazing song - move over Michael W. Smith. A new friend song has hit the world! I just thank God for friends that have touched my heart like this:

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

Because I knew you
I have been changed for good

Thanks friends! I love you all!
Sarai, Brooke, Bina, Kim, Reuben, Dana, Becky, Maleah, Beth, Sarah, John, Jen, Laura, Wendy, Chris, and all the other incredible friends that I have whom I have UNFORTUNATELY not named in this list - I am a better person because of each and every one of you!!!! If I left you off, please chalk it up to a blonde moment.....It wasn't on purpose!

Superbly Wicked Sunday

Well, I missed Wonderfully Wild and Wicked Wednesday...or whatever it was supposed to be! Truth be known, I've missed most of this month. I seem to have spent it trying to catch up with myself. My writing today is not an indication that I am caught up, but that I am avoiding everything else that needs to be done. I am actually sitting at school with a mile-long To-Do list and not enough time to do any of it. So blogging wins! :)

First of all, can I just tell you how incredibly blessed I am to have the friends that I have! And what a great Christmas gift...to be celebrated for 5 MONTHS while you anxiously await the arrival of the big event! After our 3 hour interpretation of Wicked all the way to Atlanta (thanks to Brooke's narrative recitation and Sarai's musical rendition...I was in charge of transportation and tech support) we finally made it to our AMAZING hotel room (yeah for Priceline!) where somehow, I became birds and Brooke picked up a little German.

We spent an amazing day at IKEA (See Sarai's blog for the dirt on that experience!) I became the U-Turn Queen! The Cheesecake Factory was INSANE! Nothing can be wrong with a trip to Old Navy or Bath and Body. After all of these incredible experiences, it was hard to even fathom that the best was yet to come!!!

We dressed ourselves up and made it to the theater in plenty of time. I did a superb parking job regardless of what the people in the BMW thought. :) For 2 hours and 45 minutes we were completely drawn-in to the magic of Wicked. I won't belittle the experience by saying that we "rejoycified" or that the whole place was "swankified" but I think magical is a perfect description of the evening. The show was incredible....singers, actors, set, orchestra, everything. Including the people I got to have this experience with. (Who were smart enough to buy their souvenirs (the exact same shirts, keychains, hats, etc.) for a fraction of the cost at which they were offered to us at the theater....we are brilliant, ladies.) It was an amazing night. And to be able to go "home" to our hotel room and have more treasure from the Cheesecake Factory - it was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

To finish the weekend up with breakfast from Cracker Barrel and more singing and shopping was also perfect. It was a great trip. It was a wonderful experience. I'm just glad to have shared it with P-friends! ;) Love you girls!

Ok...look soon for the top ten list! It's gonna happen! :)

Now...must go finish getting my classroom ready for some end of grade testing tomorrow. UGH!!!

Monday. THE Monday.

And all of life comes down to just one thing -
That's to know You and make You known.



Aside from the fact that I think that this is actually TWO things, I LOVE this song and it is stuck in my head this morning...but I'm ok with that.

Crazy day today. Toothache - ugh - I MUST suck it up and call a dentist. Feelin' behind here at school. Must go to Asheville and Mars Hill after school. It's just one of those days!

Everyone should just hang in there!

Ah.

Yeah. Well. I didn't say WHICH Monday, did I????

Oh yeah

I really do remember how to do this. I just don't know how to do this AND school AND company AND twins AND travel (yeah for cruises!) AND cleaning AND all that other fun stuff! But things should be falling back into a routine - one that includes the twins again, so I'm super excited and a little exhausted thinking about that - but that routine should help me get back to blogging again! I've missed it...there's just NO time! Anyway, all of that rambling to say - don't give up on me! I'll be back on Monday!! Promise! (I hope!)

Wacky Wednesday Tag

It's silly how much I love stuff like this, but I do!!

The top 5 must haves(for today at least):

In My Fridge:
1. Coke
2. Half-n-Half
3. Pickles
4. Water
5. Sweet Tea


In my closet:
1. baby clothes - go figure
2. jeans
3. capris, capris, and more capris!!!
4. hoodies
5. A grand assortment of Old Navy Tees

In My Purse:
1. Burts Bees
2. Mints of one kind or another
3. Sunglasses
4. Cell Phone
5. Calendar

In My Car:
1. CDs
2. a Bible
3. lots of change
4. a plethora of napkins
5. pillow. . .in case I get tired while driving?? I'm not sure!

On my TiVo:
1. American idol
2. Will and Grace (The last season!!:( )
3. Two and a Half Men
4. What Not to Wear
5. House

I don't know if there is anyone left to Pass This On too...but you should do it! BINA! Have you?! Tag - you're it!

Tell-All Tuesday

My Tell-All Tuesday is this: I heart Storms. :) I do! The house I am living in now is the only one of the last three without a sunroom and I miss it. I never sat in the sunroom when it was sunny, but it was an incredible place to be when it stormed! To be able to see the lightning from all angles was AMAZING! And to FEEL the thunder in that glass room was just indescribable. I like how powerful storms are and how little they make me feel! Sometimes I need to be knocked down a peg or two when considering my own importance in this world. Storms don't care a bit about me. And I'm ok with that. I think they are BEAUTIFUL! Lightning is so awesome. Thunder is really cool too. I just like how different it is everytime. I don't always like it when it wakes me up, but once I'm awake, I really do enjoy listening to it! Oh. I will say this for my current home. It doesn't have a sunroom, but it DOES have a metal roof and the rain is SO AMPLIFIED THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE HEARING IMPAIRED TO NOT KNOW THAT IT WAS RAINING!!! And I like that too. So there ya go. It's random. But now, you know. (I'm thinking all this because, even though this is Tell-All TUESDAY, it is Monday morning, 5:15 and I'm writing this listening to the rain and hail and thunder. Brilliant time to be on the computer, I know. I AM blonde ya know.)

Catch-up? Are you kidding?

Yeah, my first thought is to play catch-up. (That's like: have burgers and CATCH UP not: have burgers and ketchup!)

My second thought is, are you kidding? I would NEVER catch-up from all I've missed. You all know that my life has been insane this month, so you'll just have to forgive me!

On to Mad Music Monday -

I woke up singing the "So Long, Farewell" song from Sound of Music. I think I really just wanted to go back to sleep and I could still just picture little Maggie singing, "The sun. . . has gone. . . to bed and so must I". What a fun time we had friends! It makes me laugh to think about it! Anyway, the time change has made me sleepy. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this time change because I LOVE that it stays light later. BUT I HATE losing an hour in order for that to happen! NOT FAIR! There is too much to do already and now we have less time to do it!!!! Oh well!!

My other fav song of the day is off of the Newsong Worship album, "Before the Day." Especially this week while we get used to the time change, its going to be hard to get that Quiet Time in every morning. I HATE that when I am rushed or get up late, THAT is the thing that gets cut. (My students like that I don't cut out the shower or brush my teeth part!) I always think, well, I can have my quiet time this afternoon or when the kids are in PE or something. 80% of the time, it just doesn't happen at all if I don't get it in first thing. It's not intentional. I don't MEAN to skip it, it just keeps getting pushed back and back until there is nowhere to push it anymore and it's time to do the next day's quiet time! So, "before the day slips away, I just wanna stop, and say I LOVE YOU." Of all things to leave out of the day, this should not be it. LOVE this song!!!

Mad Music Monday

Oh! I bought soooo much music over the weekend that I am very excited about. I'll have to spread it out though!

My music for today is the new (and final) Watermark album. This album revisits a lot of their older stuff, but it is fabulous. One of the best parts is that it is a live album and has special guests such as Chris Tomlin and Shane & Shane. It is wonderful. I think the reason that I'm choosing this album as my choice for Mad Music Monday is less because of the music and more because of the reasoning behind this being the last Watermark album. Christy and Nathan Nockles (I hope I have those names right) have two beautiful children. They have discussed how it seems that too often their children get what is left of them instead of the best of them. They've realized that they only get one shot at being parents to these kids. They can make more music later. Nathan will continue to produce albums, but Christy is devoting all of her time to the ministry of being mom. I can't think of a higher calling. I love that this is a couple with a heart for Jesus and that they want to continue to serve Him. I also love that they can see that by being the best parents they can be to their children, they ARE serving Him.

Favorite Friend Friday

Nope. I cannot post my Favorite Friend Friday on Friday. It just doesn't work. It has to be Monday for some reason!!!

My friend of the week this week is Jessica Simpson. I haven't flaunted that I know Jessica because of all the paparazzi. And I really didn't want to be a name dropper...but because of the divorce and all she's been through, I just think it's time for some good press so I am choosing to highlight Jessica as my friend of the week.

What the heck. My friend of the week is Jessica BROOKE Simpson!! :) Brooke and I haven't known each other very long, but I'm so thankful to Sarai for bringing us together. We have tons of stuff in common and already find ourselves sharing a brain much of the time. We don't have lots of stories to share about memories of our friendship, but we are making new ones all the time. Between camp meetings and camp itself and game nights and IMs and emails and text messages and however else we choose to communicate, those memories are being formed and it seems much of those memories involve laughter. I am all for that! Brooke has reminded me of some things about friendship that I had forgotten or had taken for granted. I feel blessed to have a friend with whom I can laugh and vent and pray and just talk about nothing or everything! I'm excited to have Brooke in my life and I can't wait to see where this crazy life takes us.

Thanks for everything Brooke...especially for knowing that Chicken of the Sea is not really chicken. :)

Thing I Love Thursday

Thursdays.

I love that right after Thursday, comes Friday.

I love friendship.

I love trust.

I love honesty.

I love opening up. Well, no, opening up is scary. I love the feeling right after you've opened up and it all turned out ok.

I love to laugh.

I love tags!!! Which is why, I'm going to do Maleah's! (And Sabrina, you need to do this one too!)

Now, you must remember that I graduated from high school during the same year that these wonderful songs were in the Billboards Top 100 songs of the year:

Baby Got Back
I'm Too Sexy
Achy Breaky Heart
2 Legit 2 Quit
Bohemian Rhapsody


What a great year - culturally I mean.

There were a few good songs too though! And really, more than 5 that we listened to ALL THE BLESSED TIME! So here are just a few:

What graduation party in 1992 didn't play It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday by Boyz II Men?

Amy Grant even made the top 100 multiple times that year with Good For Me and I Will Remember You and That's What Love is For.

Richard Marx (and all his hair) was still going strong with Take This Heart and Keep Coming Back

My man, Michael Bolton, was singing When a Man Loves a Woman andl Missing You Now and even Paula Abdul was Blowing Kisses in the Wind during my senior year.

Genesis described my friends and I and why we decorated for prom, but then went and had our own party instead when they came out with I Can't Dance :)

How Do you Talk to An Angel was HUGE that year as was No Tears in Heaven.

Guns-N-Roses had November Rain which will always remind me of Phil Zinser

Life is a Highway was pretty big that year too but not as big as our hair as Sarah and I would sing along!

We had tons of tunes and loved them all. It was a good time.

Fun wacky tag Maleah! Thanks!

Tell All Tuesday

Hmmm. I get stuck here EVERYTIME!

I guess my Tell All Tuesday will be that I almost never ever ever iron anything. I'm sure you're thinking - we know that, we see how wrinkled you are. And maybe that is the case...and if it is, I think I'm ok with it. I HATE TO IRON! I always lay out what I am going to wear the night before so that when I get up in the morning, if necessary, I can throw those clothes in the dryer with a damp washcloth and then presto! By the time I get out of the shower, my clothes are warm, smelling clean linen fresh, and wrinkle free. In the winter, this works out great. Now, summers are a little less fun! I don't find the need to get out of a shower and into warm clothes. But it is still better than ironing!

Mad Music Monday

And the week begins with the most super short blog entries ever!

Today, I am walking through my house singing "I am Woman, hear me roar. . ." simply because I just fixed my toilet without the help of anyone!!

The problem was easy to diagnose. The toilet kept running and running and running after I flushed it yesterday morning....so I lifted the lid (because after a gazillion years of living in this house and a gazillion more working on camp Truett toilets, I know a thing or two about the toilet tank) and there, floating in the tank water, was the ball. For those of you who don't know, the ball isn't supposed to just float around in your tank. It should be attached to the stick that helps control the water level in your tank. (I'm quite certain that ball and stick ARE the technical plumber's terms for these items.) Anyhow, I stopped at Wal-Mart, bought a replacement ball, and replaced it my own self.

So, the music in my head at this point is, "I am Woman, hear me roar. . ." Sing along girls!

Favorite Friend Friday

Ok, I wanted to hold out even longer on this post - I don't know why I was trying to wait, but I was. And now I'm not.

My friend of the week is Sarai Gilbert. :) Cool last name, huh? The best gift my brother ever gave me was to marry one of my very best friends in the world. (Although, I'm pretty sure he didn't marry her just for me!) What a priceless treasure to know that we are going to be linked forever and to just have that assurance that this person isn't going anywhere!!!

Sarai and I have had a strange past together. I will never forget her in her overalls and pigtails singing Reba songs at camp when Wendy and I were camp directors. Nor will I forget Wendy and I taking her to the basement of the dining hall to ask her if she would come back to camp the next week and work as a Jr. Counselor. I don't really know what we were going for when we did that. Wendy and I just liked to do weird stuff like that! :)

How blessed I have been to work with her at camp ever since then! And then we had our fun Thursday night camp staff get-togethers at my house. Finally, for some strange reason, Sarai started hanging out a little more...oh yes. She started dating my brother! :) And that was great! Marty was living in Durham, but Sarai and I were both here so we bonded over lots of meals and FRIENDS and movies and just fun stuff. We've been through so much mess together. We've vented and cried and laughed and screamed together. I cannot imagine my life without her. The entire Gilbert family has been blessed by her marriage to Marty. In the past week, Sarai has once again come through for me. I know that regardless of what kind of mess is going on, she is always going to be there for me and she is always going to be on my side...well, unless I'm being stupid and then she'll just tell me that and I need that too! It is so great to know that she loves me no matter what and will have my back on any occasion!

Sometimes we go for days without talking. Other times, we talk 45 times during the day. It just depends on what is going on and what kinds of moods we are in!

I love that we share a brain and don't even have to talk most of the time.

I love that we can see something or read something and have the exact same reaction.

I love that she is ULTRA Organized! :)

I just love her!!!!

Poopie! I'm so blessed to know you!!! Thank you for being a friend......




Traveling down the road and back again.....

Ok. Sorry. I'm going now.

Thing I Love Thursday

Butterflies. I love butterflies. This is not a new thing. It's just becoming more and more consuming as time goes on. In fact, on Wednesday we took our kids to the Colburn Science Museum which is on the ground floor of Pack Place BUT on the next level there is another museum/gallery that I MUST go back to because it was ALL BUTTERFLIES! Girls, we must have this cultural experience together, don't you think? I do!!! I'm going to call and see how long it will be there!

The first summer we became new creations at girls camp it was almost impossible to find butterfly things. And believe me, I looked EVERYWHERE!!!! But ever since then, butterflies have been everywhere and I love it!!

Here's a random thought...for one of my high school piano recitals I got to play a simple, but lovely German piece entitled The Schmeterling. It means, THE BUTTERFLY! How great is that? Just thought of that. Thought I would share.

Wow. I'm ADD today....and the fun part is - I still have another entry to go! :)

Tell All Tuesday

Friday. Tuesday. Ah. Whatever!

I don't have much to tell these days. In fact, I've been sitting here for a few minutes and still have nothing very good to share...so, instead of making up some drivel that will entertain no one...I think I'll move on to the next post on which I am also behind!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Mad Music Monday

The song stuck in my head today is Sara Groves' Less Like Scars. She wrote this song for me, ya know?
This song had just come out during a particularly hard time in my life and it was perfect:

It's been a hard year • But I'm climbing out of the rubble • These lessons are hard • Healing changes are subtle • But every day it's... • Less like tearing more like building • Less like captive more like willing • Less like breakdown more like surrender • Less like haunting more like remember • And I feel you here • And you're picking up the pieces • Forever faithful • It seemed out of my hands a bad situation • But you are able • And in your hands the pain and hurt • look less like scars and more like character • •

I'm proud to say that I was the first among many to discover Sara Groves. :) And because I love her SOOOOO much, I've shared her with many!!! But none of them can say they actually have a coffee house version of Past The Wishing, before she actually signed with a production company! I'm telling ya, I'm the winner here! :) (And only Beth and I can say that we went to see her in concert (with like 15 other people in the audience) and ended up feeding a disabled man pizza! Friend Beth, we have such strange stories together!!!)

I'll also say this: She really wrote the entire album All Right Here just for me. I know this because it exactly chronicles my life the year that I felt like my best friend decided to not be my best friend anymore. Which at the time was the most painful thing I had ever been through and has now turned into a magnificent blessing. (There are no hard feelings here - just an understanding of how God uses the painful to produce the spendid!) God is cool like that. And Sara knew it too, because she said it for me: "I'm not God I'm a girl I confess that I don't have sea of forgetfulness • No, it's all right here • It makes me stronger and makes me wince • It makes me think twice when I pick my friends • Oh, it's all right here it's all right here" And it IS all right AND alright!!! I have the best friends I have ever had or could ever imagine having now!!!! I haven't lost anything, God has blessed me with more than I thought I could handle! (Girls. sometimes you are more than ANYONE can handle!!)

Ha! Anyway, my kids are gone to PE, Sara and I are just relaxing. It's a good good time!

Favorite Friend Friday

Someday, I'm actually going to write this post on FRIDAY like it was intended. Whew. Someday.

My friend of the week this week is Sarah James, well, now she is Sarah Caniano, but when we were such great buddies, she was Sarah James. We met in high school for the first time and were inseparable from that first meeting. She and I were both trying to make it as children of ministers and teachers. We both cared little about what other people thought and a LOT about how much fun we could have. We had too many fun times to even begin to mention them, but I will say this: I've never spent more time singing with one person in my entire life. Oh. And this must be said - I will never forget the day we drove back from Wal-Mart in Waynesville (this was in the Pre-Sylva-Wal-Mart-Era) with our heads stuck out of the windows of the truck and getting pelted with a bug in the center of the forehead. It was fun to explain that welt later on!! Sarah and I had a blast and shared secerets and shopping and laughter and yearbook pages! :) We kind of lost touch after she left me here alone to begin her exciting married life across the U.S., but we have recently reconnected and I am sooooo thankful for that. I would love to live in the same area again and get to do all those fun things we used to. Sometimes, this growing up thing really stinks!

Love you Sadie!!!!!!

Things I Love Thursday

I love:
Time to catch up with myself.
Laughing with friends.
Having inside jokes (Go Big Ashe!)
Having that special song (Jesus, Take the Wheel)
Unexpected visits with friends (all ages) at Wal-Mart
Sharing an umbrella with my favorite 4-year old
Seeing the bottom of my "papers to be graded" basket
The purple/pink link
Friends with numbers
Friends who live on my couch
Having a week with few prior commitments
Seeing lights at the ends of tunnels
Learning new ways to serve onion rings
Feeling blessed like I am


Catching up on blogs...even if it IS just a list and no complete sentences!!! :)

Tell All Tuesday

Well, it has been quite a day. There is much to tell, but not much worth telling. But, I need to vent and I need to blog so I'm going to kill two birds with one stone and use this time to just get this off my chest:

I am overwhelmed! I am exhausted! I am frustrated. And I'm hungry. (That last one is not really a big deal, but it's true!)

It seems that everyone in my life (real friends excluded) are asking me to do things right now and they all want it done yesterday. Being the person that I am and not wanting to let anyone down or rock any boats, I say that I will do "it" - whatever IT is. This would be ok if people wanted me to pick up milk or dry cleaning on my way home, but everything right now just seems HUGE! The most frustrating part of all is that I can't do the things I actually WANT to work on (ie: camp!) because I have too much stuff that I HAVE to work on. The BEST part of all of this is that because I have so much stuff running around in my brain it is impossible to sleep. Which then makes it impossible to do anything during the day because I am soooo tired from having been up all night the night before.

So, now that I've turned this in to "cry me a river, Tuesday" - how are you?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I have a midterm to give tonight. As long as I'm done before American Idol, at least I'll have that today! :) And Maleah and I get to hang out so that is good too. Really, I just need to world to slow down and let me off for about 48 hours and then I would be great! Honest!!

I hope you are all having a completely stress free day!!! :)

Love you guys!

Mad Music Monday

Another Mad Music Monday. I'm trying to stop listening to the Wicked soundtrack. I don't want to hate it before we ever even get to the theater!! All day yesterday I listened to Rent as well as Psalm 40 by Newsong. We sang/signed it (Psalm 40, not Rent) in church yesterday so it's the only song on this CD and I just let it play forever. It was good times. I don't really have much to say today. My head hurts, I feel like I spent the night here, and my list of things to do today continues to grow. So far, all I've managed to do today is get up, take a shower, get here, and catch up on blogging! Not exactly all things at the top of my to do list - but at least I'm clean! I hope everyone has a great Monday!! I'm planning on it! :) Looking forward to Friday girls!

Favorite Friend Friday - Yes, I know it's Monday.

OK, this weekend has been CRAZY! It definitely had some fun times, but there were some not fun times too. And regardless of the label of the times, it was BUSY!

On Saturday night Maleah and I went to see a play at WCU entitled Extremities. This is a tough play that tackles the issues of sexual assault and rights of women. It also makes you pay attention to the way victims/survivors are treated after the fact. And in a bizarre way, it makes you think a little about the story of the attacker. This play did that for me more than it probably did for other audience members for one simple reason. The rapist is my friend of the week: Anthony Giordano. (And that's a sentence I never thought I would write.)

I've known Anthony forever it seems. Anthony was a camper as well as a member of my youth group at First Baptist. As he grew up, our relationship changed. He became a camp counselor. He also became my friend who would come and visit me at school every Tuesday and Thursday between classes! These were the highlights of my work week! Anthony is an amazing guy with a wonderful sense of humor. He loves to be on stage. And we love for him to be there. Most of what I have seen Anthony do on stage has been strictly comedy. He is soooo good at making us laugh and the anticipation when he is on stage is almost overwhelming. In the last couple of weeks I have been able to see him in a couple of different roles. He was a little more serious in The Tempest, but it was still a fun role. His role in Extremities was neither fun nor funny. Maleah and I were talking about how much we would love to sit down and talk with Anthony and his co-stars about their preparation for these roles, the understandings the actors had to have with each other, how they are able to decompress after a performance like that, how doing this play has changed their view on things or at least their awareness...and so much more. I left this play feeling physically and emotionally drained and completely amazed. I am so proud of Anthony for doing such a hard role, for not backing down because of the topic of this show, and for showing us that he is capable of so much more than comedy. He was spectacular. My respect for him as an actor is through the roof. I've always known he was good, but I think I made the mistake of boxing him into one type of role. I'm glad he broke through that box.

I expect great things from Anthony. I think he will go far in his career. I also think he will use his charismatic spirit and his love for God and rock the world in other ways. All I have to say is: Everybody, hang on!!! :)

My life is better and a little crazier for knowing Anthony Giordano.

Favorite Things Thursday

I didn't get to post yesterday. Honestly? Because I was just frustrated with so many things - most of them having to do with the computer. It's hard to write about your favorite things when you are frustrated. BUT today is a new day and aside from my broken tooth throbbing in my head, I'm ok today! So, here is my favorite thing for yesterday!

I have made a new discovery this past week - with the help of one of my coolest friends, Maleah! :) I decided on Friday to gather up all the change in my desk drawer. Now, I have a place in my desk where I just throw change for drinks or whatever, just for me. Then I also have zip-loc bags of change where the kids have purchased drinks from me on Friday. I then use that change to go buy more drinks for the next week - well, I'm supposed to. It was always just a hassle to get all that change together so I usually just paid for the drinks myself and let the change wallow around in the bottom of my drawer. Well, I got tired of looking at it so, on our way to Mars Hill for game night last Friday, Maleah and I stopped at the Credit Union and used the fun new Fat Cat Coin Counter. You'll never believe how much money I had in my DESK DRAWERS! $73.00!!!! Can you believe it?!!! This inspired me, so I went home and threw the money from my change jar into a bag. On Monday, I went back to the change machine. I really thought I didn't have as much change this time because instead of all the quarters from my desk drawer, I also had TONS of pennies and nickels. But Surprise, Surprise!! $158.00 later I was a very happy person!!! WoooooHoooo. I can't decide if I just like having a little extra money or if using the machine is just fun! Either way, it was a good time.

You know what else is a good time? Blogging with your best friends. I tell ya, this is what keeps me going, girls. I love learning more about you and exchanging comments. I spend too much time checking for comments on my blog and on yours!! But if you have to have an addiction, this is a relatively healthy one! It makes me laugh that I can see Sabrina everyday and still learn stuff by reading her blog. It also makes me laugh that we are sitting 3 feet from each other when we comment on each other's blog! Sarai and I can talk ALMOST everyday and still leave messages for each other! Too funny! Brooke and I are AIM sisters. We can be chatting WHILE we are posting a new entry and still learn something! I see Maleah at least once a week, usually twice or more, and still have a blast reading and posting comments on her blog, or seeing what she posts on mine. So, aside from blogging, I guess another of my favorite things is having you 4 girls as my closest friends - friends that I can depend on, laugh with, grow with! I love you guys!

A Wacky Wednesday Tag

Ok - Bina sent this to me a few days ago - maybe a week ago now!! You should paste this and put this on your own blog! So, I'm taggin' ya: Sarai, Brooke, Maleah, Bina (if you wanna do it again!)


1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:00 AM, and 5:09, and 5:18, and 5:27, etc.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
4. What is your favorite TV show? Extreme Makeover Home Edition, American Idol, Two and 1/2 Men, ETC!
5. What did you have for breakfast? Cheerios
6. What is your middle name? Jean
7. What is you favorite cuisine? Seafood
8. What foods do you dislike? red meat foods
9. What is your favorite type of music? Contemporary Christian...but also everything else!!
10. What kind of car do you drive? 2001 Honda Civic
11. Favorite sandwich? Shrimp Po-Boys
12. What characteristics do you despise in others? dishonesty, sneakiness
13. Favorite item of clothing? pjs
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where
would you go? I don't have a PLACE I want to go right now, but I have people that I would love to see...I would love to go to PA, WA or even Australia!
15. What color is your bathroom? purples and blues and yellows and pinks
16. Favorite brand of clothing? Old Navy
17. Where would you retire to? I don't even know what I'm doing this weekend! I imagine I would stay around here - depends on my current responsibilities I guess
18. Favorite time of day ? It used to be early morning, but anymore, I'm not sure I have a favorite!
19. Where were you born? New Orleans, Louisiana
20. Favorite sport to watch? Basketball
21. What laundry detergent do you use? Gain or Bold
22. Coke or Pepsi? Coke
23. Are you a morning person or night owl? morning
24. What size shoe do you wear ? 10
25. Do you have pets? no
26. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? Nope
27. What did you want to be when you were little? writer, concert pianist, truck driver...depended on which week. The writer one stuck around...and sticks around still though
28. Favorite candy bar? Hershey's Special Dark Bar
29. What is your best childhood memory? There are many....traveling to La was lots of fun
30. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? Ok, in no particular order: working retail in Cherokee at the Totem Pole, The Desperado, Medicine Man, and the Heavenly Fudge Shoppe, Camp Truett: Counselor and Camp Director, babysitting, tutoring, piano lessons, Youth Director for Bryson City United Methodist, Youth Director for Bryson City First Baptist, Pianist for Bryson City First Baptist, 5th Grade Teacher @ Fairview Elementary, played piano for juries and auditions at UNC-G, interpreted for various events and in various situations, teacher of WCU Sign Language Courses, SWARM Summer Missionary, and about 400 more that I can't think of at this moment!
31. What color underwear are you wearing?Green...with little blue and yellow flowers
32. Nicknames: Lo, LoLo, Flo, FloDoodie, Doodie, Dood, Ms.G, Mrs. Gill, Ms. Gizzard
33. Eye color: blue
34. Ever been to Africa? no
35. Ever been toilet papering? yes
36. Loved someone so much it made you cry? yes
37. Croutons or bacon bits? croutons
38. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
39. Favorite Restaurant? Red Lobster
40. Favorite flower? Orchids - Tulips - Irises! I don't know!
41. Favorite ice cream? Anything with the words Triple Chocolate in the title
42. Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney
43. Favorite Fast Food? Quiznos
44. What color is your bedroom carpet? pink - not a pretty pink either. ugh
45. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None
46. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Old Navy or The Container Store!
47. What do you do most often when you are bored? I can't remember the last time I was bored, but if I happened to get that way, I would read, do a SuDoku puzzle, play a game online, write in my journal, watch Nick at Nite, talk on the phone, surf the blogs, etc.
48. What is your bedtime? the precise moment that my eyes close in sleep
49. Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire? everybody
50. Last person you went to dinner with? Maleah
51. Ford or Toyota? Toyota
52. What are you listening to right now? My children...who are NOT talking during this quiz.
53. What is your favorite color? purple
54. Lake, Ocean or River? Ocean
55. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? chicken. ask me tomorrow, I might say egg

Another Wacky Wednesday

It's Wednesday. Finally. This has been the longest week...and one that I feel like no matter what I do, I'm still behind in EVERYTHING. Hmmmm...may have something to do with the fact that I am writing my blog here at school instead of grading papers? Sometimes, you just have to take whatever minute you can get!

Here's what I want to know from people today: what is your favorite trick for falling asleep?? I've never been a great sleeper, but it's getting worse and worse. I know that I have spent more time just trying to get to sleep lately than I actually have spent sleeping. It's beginning to drive me INSANE! So that's what I want to hear from people - in phases of insomnia, what do you do to finally go to sleep? I'll try anything...well...almost anything! :)

Let me know!

Tell All Tuesday

So, again, most people know this about me, but if you don't know the whole story, you're missing the full effect.

I am freaked out by bats. Not the baseball kind. I don't mind mice or snakes or spiders or any of those other fun creatures - they aren't my favorites, but I'm ok with them. I'm NOT ok with bats.

Bats and I go way back. As a matter of fact, a bat was the first injury that occurred as a direct result of my having a driver's license! I was driving home from somewhere one night - a pretty uneventful trip - until I started up Sunset Farm and a bat hit my windshield. That was bad enough, but somehow a bat wing got caught under my windshield wiper. So for the rest of the trip up the hill I was screaming while this bat was staring at me and beating its other wing against the windshield. Finally, I made it into the carport and was able to stop the car. The bat was still there...still beating its other wing. I wasn't getting out while it was there because I knew that it would be that precise moment that it would free itself and come after me. (No, I'm not paranoid.) So I did what any teenage girl would do....I laid down on the horn until someone else came out and let it go! And thus begins my traumatic bat saga - but it doesn't end there.

One summer I spent my time doing Summer Missions. (Well, I did that for two summers, but this story only applies to one of those.) Amy Lough and I lived in an upstairs apartment on Deep Creek. Every night we would hear squirrels and other fun woodland creatures roaming the attic. We didn't think much of it. WELL, one night Amy decided to stay in Waynesville with her parents so I stayed at the apartment by myself. No big deal. As I was in bed trying to go to sleep I remember hearing something that sounded like a bird...at first I convinced myself that it was in the attic but then it seemed MUCH closer. So I got up and turned on the light. Nothing. I laughed at myself and went back to bed. Then it happened. I woke up at 1:34am and opened my eyes. There...on my pillow...next to my face....WAS A BAT!!!!!!!!!!! I will not tell you what I yelled - #1, I don't remember. #2, I've already repented so there's no point bringing it up again! I ran to the living room and slammed the bedroom door behind me. When I got there, I had a towel in one hand and a flyswatter in the other. I don't know if I was going to clean him to death or swat him, but I was ready. This THING crawled underneath the bedroom door, flew into the living room and started circling my head. I was VERY UNHAPPY at this point. I ran back into the bedroom, slammed the door and stuffed the towel in the crack under the door. I then listened to this bat beat itself against the bedroom door for hours. I personally think this bat was a relative of the bat that I hit with my car.

I read an entire Max Lucado book that night because I was too scared to go to sleep. As soon as I thought my dad might be awake, I called him. He came over and we searched the house for the bat. It was nowhere to be found.

I moved out that day. Enough was enough!!!!

To this day, I have bat issues. I don't like them. I believe they don't like me. And I'm not very happy when they are around!!!

And now you know the whole batty story.

Mad Music Monday

It's another Mad Music Monday. Today I have not had much opportunity to listen to a lot of music. I woke up late and had to rush to get to school on time so there were no fun tunes this morning. However, Maleah did leave her Shane and Shane CLEAN CD in my car stereo so I got to listen to some fun music on my way to school.

Shane and Shane really rock my face off. I have listened to them off and on for a while now, but really started listening to them A LOT after we saw them in concert in Franklin. Their lyrics are incredible and their music is just so simple. It is very easy to have your own worship experience while listening to them. So, I'm running late for school this morning, stressing out, getting caught by every traffic light in the county. While I was at the third light, just sitting there looking pretty, I was trying to sing along with the song Waging War. This is the song that we all have struggled with in understanding the lyrics so, after many repeated listenings, I decided to search them out once and for all:

It haunts me so
This gloomy weight
That comes and goes
Without a trace
A thousand times my flesh embrace
A thousand more but if for grace

To see the Lord, the promise land
Where in sins pearly gates look bland
And what was once a pearl now sand
That blows away in light of Him

When battle lines become unclear
And the waging war is all I hear
Sustain me with Your voice
And the choice to walk in truth
And by the Spirit

That I might see this day
This waging war might go away
And be no more
That I might see His face
And hear Him say
Son, welcome home
The war is over

I loved the song before. Now I love it even more. Don't know about you, but I'm ready to go Home. I know there is a lot more for us to do here and I'm looking forward to that too, but just to know that you are finally HOME - I'm ready for that.

Well, this day has started out with me running late and I'm still behind in everything I am supposed to be doing so I must go grade a gazillion papers. :) Have a great week everyone!!!!

Favorite Friend SATURDAY?

I'm a little behind. (Ha! Reading that sentence made me laugh. Those of you who really know me, will understand why.)

Jennifer Brewer is my friend of the week this week. Jen and I hardly ever get to talk anymore, but when we do, it's just like we last spoke yesterday!

I met Jen on the day she moved into our dorm at UNC-G. Wendy and I had returned to school early to work with BSU and help freshmen and transfer students move into the dorm. Well, Jen happened to be moving into our dorm. I knew we could be friends when I carried a box of stuff to her room and that box happened to contain a Twila Paris CD and a Steven Curtis Chapman CD. We talked with Jen a little that day and told her if she needed anything, to come on down to our room. So she did! That night, we took our first, of many, Wal-Mart trip together. And what a trip it was! Jen was a blast! She grabbed a buggy and ran into the store, trying to pop a wheelie the whole time. Unfortunately, the buggy flew out from under her and she landed on her face on the floor. Those of you who know me - Sabrina - know that I was too busy laughing to see if she was actually ok so some poor old Wal-Mart woman ran over to her. She was fine and that was just the beginning of our friendship AND our Wal-Mart adventures. (I would still love a copy of that security tape though!)

Jen was our fun friend who always put random things in our shopping cart when we weren't looking. We could get to the checkout with Depends and Fiber-Con and rat poison and other random things. The other great thing about Jen was her constant use of the Wal-Mart Public Address System. She said, "If they didn't want me to use it, they wouldn't put the directions on the phones." So you never knew when you might hear your name on the PA - or what the message might say. It was always a joy, just to go to Wal-Mart.

Jen and I had other quality times together - skipping classes to go to the EUC and swing or to Mrs. Field's for a nutritious cookie breakfast! :) Having fun study sessions while watching Jeopardy. Trips to Bryson City. So many fun things! I just loved hanging out with her.

These days, Jen and her husband live in Texas and we don't really get to see each other. Thanks to the wonder of email and IM, we do get to talk! I love every minute we get to spend catching up! Jen is a fabulous friend. I'm blessed to have her in my life!

I AM NOT A COPYCAT! :)

I read about this thing on my friend Sarai's blog and thought that I would give it a shot too! (Promise...I won't start copying everything you do, friend. But you DID tag me!)

Four jobs I've had:
1. I worked at the Totem Pole, a craft shop my uncle, grandfather and dad bought into in the late 80s, on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. They paid me $1 an hour. I got to WALK to McDonald's for lunch, but still only had 30 minutes. And I got to interact with tourists all day long. It was just the greatest job ever. I liked it so much (instert sarcarsm) that I seriously spent the next TWELVE YEARS working at the Medicine Man - another...MUCH higher quality...craft shop on the res.
2. One summer, and I can't remember why, but I worked at the Medicine Man AND The Heavenly Fudge Shoppe. Great job, but I worked for some psycho people. Interestingly enough, I actually lost weight on that job! Something about being surrounded by chocolate 40 hours a week made me want to go home and grab a celery stick!
3. My best job isn't really a job. I started counseling at Truett Camp when I was 15 and, aside from one horrible summer, I've been there ever since. I'm now co director of Middle School AND High School Music weeks with some other cool Gilbert people! :)
4. And now, I get to teach 5th grade every day. For the last 7 years - right Bina? - I've been teaching at Fairview Elementary School. 90% of the time the job is FABULOUS. The other 10% it can be icky. But I LOVE who I get to work with and that makes it 100% GREAT!!!!!

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Airplane
2. Truly, Madly, Deeply - Marty's favorite. :) Sorry. I thought I TOLD you it was a chick flick!?!
3. The Harry Potter Movies...any but #3.
4. The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood...oh. and about 5,000,000 more...only, not The Mexican, right guys?

Four places I've lived:
1. New Orleans, La. Katrina did it in, but it DID survive my birth a zillion years ago!
2. Cherokee, NC-Birdtown to be exact. Yeah. I'm serious. Could I make that up?
3. Greensboro, NC-College years! What fun! And we all lived to tell about it!
4. Whittier, NC-Bought the old family home. The family is strong. The house is falling apart. Lucky me!

Four TV shows I love:
1. FRIENDS
2. American Idol
3. Two and a Half Men
4. Will and Grace - and more!!

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Nassau, Bahamas
2. Perdido Key, Florida
3. Cabo San Lucas, MX
4. Selinsgrove, PA - not quite as tropical, but TONS of fun! :)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. I love veggies! I can't help it! Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Squash, Turnips! All of 'em!
2. Chocolate - it helps balance out the Veggies!
3. Crab Legs!
4. Coke - I know this isn't a food, but it's one of my daily food groups so I had to include it!

Four albums I can't live without:
1. Lori's Greatest Hits 2003-2005 is my current fav, but it's an 8 CD set!
2. Sara Groves - All Right Here
3. Wicked Soundtrack
4. Shane and Shane

Four sites I visit almost daily:
1. www.yahoo.com
2. www.smnet.net
3. blogs blogs blogs
4. www.dailysudoku.com

Four places I would rather be now:
1. Sitting on a warm beach without any responsibility
2. Hanging out with friends
3. In PA
4. Right here - I actually kinda like it here at my house!

Four items in my purse:
1. Sunglasses
2. Burt's Bees
3. Calendar
4. Wallet - with no money, but lots of baby pics!


That was fun! Thanks Sarai! :)

These are a Few of My Favorite Things - Thursday

Things I love -

I love moments alone!!!!!!

I love getting Valentine cards from favorite friends - love you Brooke!

I love when my best friends and I share brain cells -
I do this CONSTANTLY with Bina - down to what we bring for lunch or what we wear. It's crazy. Sarai and I have always been pretty good at jumping on those same brain waves ourselves. Brooke and I started getting into each other's heads this summer. And now Maleah is able to hop in occasionally too! Wendy and I used to share a brain a lot, and even with so much time spent apart, we are still there! Once joined in brain waves, always joined! God is so incredible. I think we go through a lot of other relationships in life simply to learn about what they are supposed to be so we can really appreciate the good ones. And I do! Love you guys!!!!

I love being unique! And others who are too!! I love people who are just themselves and allow others to like them because of that. I watch kids in my class, and high school kids and even my college students all trying to be like other people just so other people will like them. Geez. What a waste! God made YOU to be YOU. So, go be YOU already. :) It's so nice when people finally grow up and into themselves and realize that it is GOOD to be yourself.

I love Allie and her momentary 4-year old breakdowns. Bina - you have the most precious child!

I love those moments in my classroom when everyone is quiet and I realize it is because they are all reading or writing and really just enjoying it!!

I love going home at the end of the day....so I think I will! :)

Wacky Wednesday

I don't really have anything to talk about that is WACKY, but it sounded good in my head.

So today IS Wednesday and we have yet to have a full day of school this week. Now, I'm not complaining by any stretch of the imagination. HOWEVER, tomorrow, when I feel certain we will have a full day, it's going to be hard. I've been spoiled by either NOT coming at all or not coming in until 9:00. I need a job like that. (Well, except for the fact that I was here until 11:00 last night, but that's beside the point!)

I don't really have tons to say today, just wanted to say hey to all my fun friends! :) I'm off to get a week's worth of papers graded - you would think that with all the time off I would be caught up by now. Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it? Well I DID get lots of stuff done over the last 4 or 5 days, just not grading or filing. That's what today is for!

Everyone have a great day!!

Tell All Tuesday

Today I would like to tell you about the creation of the most beautiful holiday, but before I can do that, you must have a little of the back story...so here it is:

After Rob and I broke off our engagement, you might say that I was a little....bitter. Yes. That's a good word. So, when February 14th rolled around, you know I was a great person to be with. Actually, I'm not a moper. I'm not one to sit around feeling sorry for myself. Instead, I like to bless those around me with my sarcasm and wit. :) Lucky people. So, I referred to Valentine's Day that year as Black Monday. And the next, Black Tuesday...and so on. You see the pattern. Well, I thought this was funny, but then I decided to be funnier. I then created S.A.D. This has nothing to do with being a student or a drunk driver. S.A.D. is Single Awareness Day. I created Single Awareness Day as I watched people with their loved ones or with flowers their loved one had sent them. It was a beautiful thing, but there were so many people in this category that they didn't really stand out. The people who DID stand out were those who were by themselves without flowers or chocolates or goofy teddy bears with embroidered hearts on their tummies. Because of their LACK of things, I became very AWARE of them...and thus, the birth of Single Awareness Day.

Since the creation of SAD I have been able to send SAD Cards to my single friends. SAD Cards that I have created - they are stinking cute. I have also made SAD iron-ons and participated in the making of SAD T-shirts for singles groups far and wide. It's been a joy really. I enjoy sharing the joy of singleness. The Bible says: But we are not all the same. God gives some the gift of marriage, and to others he gives the gift of singleness." 1 Corinthians 7:7. It's a gift! Let's party!!!!

Awww...and my kids brought me chocolate and other fun things. It IS a party!!! :)

Mad Music Monday

Well, it's Monday once again and there is some mad music going on in my house! Today is a snow day, and Superintendent Sue Nations, being the angel that she is, even gave teachers the day off. So, I am working on some paperwork and also doing some cleaning around the house. Just light housework. Dishes and laundry mostly. The point is, I listen to the same thing every time I clean the house. Nothing gets me moving like ABBA! Now, I can't explain why. I can only thank John for this influence in my life. ABBA just makes me happy and it's peppy and if I can be inspired to be happy AND quick moving while cleaning, then bring it on! :)

Well, it's time for Dancing Queen - and while I'm neither a dancer nor a queen, it does make me want to sweep my kitchen. Go figure!

Enjoy the snow friends!!!

Favorite Friend Friday

I'm running behind on my blogging. The snow messed up my schedule! :)

This week I am choosing to write about my favorite friend John. John and I met at camp about a thousand years ago. We became fast friend then and haven't looked back. While there is a 5 year age difference, we have agreed to disagree in many areas, but haven't let that get in the way of our friendship. I'm glad it was only a 5 year difference. A bigger difference might have stopped our friendship before it started! Actually, a bigger difference probably would have kept our paths from crossing at all.

My favorite thing about John is that there are no expectations. Well, maybe that isn't quite true. I totally expect for him to be there when I need him and he has never let me down. And I totally expect that he will call me when he needs me and he hasn't let me down there either. We don't expect daily phone calls - that's not called friendship...that's called CO-DEPENDENCY! :) We don't even expect weekly emails. We give each other room to have lives and we don't think every aspect of those lives have to include each other....which is nice, because when we do talk, we actually have something to talk about!

He's one of those people that I hear from regularly, but not often. When I see his name in my email inbox I get completely excited. And the best part is that we can go for a long period of time without seeing each other and still pick up where we left off. We laugh because it always "seems like just yesterday" that we were drinking coffee and chatting. There seems to be very little effort that goes into our friendship. God just made us perfect friends that way. In today's world, where everyone is trying so hard to impress someone else or force a relationship that isn't there, it is such a refreshing thing to have a friendship that is beautiful and natural and blessed. And for that blessing I am completely thankful!

Love you John!!!!

Favorite Things Thursday

I'm excited because today, for the first time, I kinda know what I'm going to write before I write it!!!

Things I Love:

Sometimes I get really frustrated about living here, but there are times that I LOVE LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN. Yesterday is the perfect example. On Sunday, my driver's side headlight went out. I still had bright lights, but only 1/2 of the dim. Well, of course, I didn't have time to even think about it again until yesterday. So, after school yesterday I went to Advanced Auto Parts and bought the bulb. I paid for it. The guy handed it to me. I smiled sweetly. He offered to put it in my car. How could I argue with that? Soooo, I let him....only, he couldn't do it. My car has to be more complicated than the regular pop out headlight thing. So the guy explains that he can't do it and I tell him how much I appreciate him just trying...so, he tells me to wait just a minute. And he leaves me there in the parking lot. A few minutes later he comes back and asks me if I know where Snappy Lube is. I tell him that I do, but that I thought they just did oil changes. He says, "They do, but Steve works there and he owes me a favor. If you'll drive down right now, Steve will meet you at your car." So I drove to Snappy Lube, Steve met me at my car, changed the bulb in my headlight and wouldn't take a penny for doing it! Can you believe it. Small town life. It isn't all bad! :)

My other favorite thing, (FriendBrooke, stop reading this now) is a snow day marked ANNUAL LEAVE which means, I don't have to go! :) LOVE IT! Of course, I had to wake up at 5:00 and see if it really was a snow day. About 5:20 I found out that it was. By then I was wide awake. But that's ok, because I didn't have to go anywhere! So I stayed home and got lots done!

Now, I'm going to get some stuff together, hop in the ol' Civic (complete with two headlights) and head towards Asheville. Hope the roads are good!!!


Is it wrong to pray for another snow day tomorrow? Hope not!!! :)

Wacky Wednesday

Well....it's day two of auditions here at Fairview. And I can hardly wait to see what the day has in store. The act I am most looking forward to is one that was classified "guitar comedy". Now, not only do I not know what this is, but I can't imagine either of these things - guitar or comedy - being done by a 1st grader. We'll see.

I only hope I get to hear Jesus Take the Wheel a couple more times.

The most upsetting thing happened to me last night. I set my VCR to record American Idol while I was gone to Open House. And I came home to see my VCR recording....THE WRONG CHANNEL!!!! What the heck?! This means only one thing. It's time to get TiVo!!!!!!

Well, it's time to squeeze in Math before the fun auditions begin.

Tell All Tuesday....again

Well, my life has NOT gotten more exciting since the last Tell All Tuesday. Although, today I DID sit through 5 hours of elementary school talent show auditions!!! I only had to hear Jesus Take The Wheel twice though....and thought of my friends Brooke and Sarai each time. What a scream.

Tell All...Ok. Tell All. Today, I will tell you.....that I am a very frustrated dieter!! I have been doing Weight Watchers for a few weeks now and I am getting frustrated. The first two weeks of any diet are always great. You lose all that water weight, the numbers go down, it's a good thing....then you get to the real stuff! and UGH! At first, it went quickly and in two weeks, I lost 8.5 pounds. Took off another pound and half the next week and made it to 10. That was nice. This week....I lost ONE HALF OF A POUND! SERIOUSLY!!!!! Which means it is time to pick it up a notch....more water, more exercise. Neither of which I am looking forward to. I would much rather have a coke and a nap! :) Oh well. So there it is - not quite like a total confessions night (right Maleah?) but it will have to do for today!!


By the way. I would like to pass the blame for my lack of weight loss this week. I think I will pass it on to the person who LEFT THE DOUBLE STUFF OREOS AT MY HOUSE!!!!! THAT WAS JUST WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Hills Are Alive....with Mad Music Monday

So this is a little atypical for today. I love Showtunes. That's a given. However, today, in my wall-less school building, 4 of the 6 open classrooms are watching The Sound of Music which means I am now walking around singing"I've Got Confidence" and "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria"! (Actually, I'm singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maleah", but that's beside the point.) It's a real hit with the kids. Here's the lucky part - the movie just started so I still have 2 hours and 57 minutes to go. Lucky Lucky Lucky me!!! I guess really, it's a blessing. I mean, I do love the movie and I haven't watched it since Friday. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day. And if your day is stinky, try singing about some of your favorite things to cheer yourself up. You know....raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. There! Doesn't that feel better?!

Favorite Friend Friday #2!

This is still one of the hardest for me, but it's a good thing. I mean, I'm glad I have trouble because of TOO MANY friends instead of not enough! (If you can have too many!!)

Today I am choosing to talk about my friend Kim. Kim and I met in college through Joan, a mutual friend. (I actually met Kim AND Reuben in the same way.) We were basically just acquaintances then. Then, 6 years later, I walked into Fairview for my first day as a 5th grade teacher and she walks in for her first day as our music teacher. The rest is history. We had a wonderful two years teaching here together, (and having Tuesday Nigh Chick-Flick Nights with Bina - and Allie - technically!) and then she moved to Ohio to work on her doctorate. This didn't stop our friendship though. Through the wonder of email and phone calls we have managed to keep in touch. We even keep the roads pretty busy between here and there. I feel so blessed to be friends with this family. They are like my own...except, I like all of them! :) ANYWAY, after earning her doctorate, the Councill family moved to PA and now I'm running the roads to their new home. I feel AMAZINGLY blessed to have people in my life that care about me enough to let me crash at their house for two weeks and then, when it is time for me to go home, still act like they want me to stay! And then, in a moment of weakness, they ask me to come back and do it again next year! :) I love these guys tremendously. They are some of the precious people in my life that I can completely trust and count on and have a good time with and be serious with. People who know everything there is to know about me, and like me anyway! People who have my best interest at heart, but will still tell me when I'm being stupid and then kick me in the butt. I need that. I think the most special thing about this relationship is that it isn't just Kim, but the whole family that is so precious to me. Awwww, and now I have to go call them!

My Brain doesn't function this way

I understand this is a math issue. . .

and I am also very aware that each symbol is assigned to more than one number so your chances of being right are then increased...

but somebody tell me how this really works so I don't have to figure it out myself! I'm too blonde today! :)

http://trunks.secondfoundation.org/files/psychic.swf

Things I Love Thursday

I love purple. I love all things purple. I love purple flowers. I love Eeyore because he is purple, and cute and a little pitiful, but that's beside the point. I love purple paint and purple clothes. I love purple butterflies the best. Purple is pure and royal and smart and powerful. Purple is pretty and demands attention without screaming for it. I just love purple. It makes me happy.

Oh. I don't like purple bruises. I guess there is an exception to most rules, huh?

And on this Thursday morning, that's as good as it gets friends. Purple. It's a good thing.

Lori Needs

On the idea of my fellow friend bloggers, I have chosen to do the "Lori Needs" google search. Here are a few I have come up with:


Lori needs our help and support now more than ever
I'm not sure about the "more than ever" part. There have definitely been times in my life where I've needed more support than others. Things seem pretty good right now, but doesn't everyone always need help and support? Even if we don't want to admit it?!


Lori needs to be aware of her own anger and how it’s affecting her
Ooooh. That's interesting.


Lori needs to believe she has more time.
Not only do I need to believe I have more time, I just need more time!!!!!

Lori needs to cut her mom some slack
I have no comment...although, it probably one of the truest statements on this page.

I think that the old Lori needs to be brought back
The old Lori? Where did she go? I can remember a few old Loris that I didn't like very much. Let's not bring them back!


Lori needs to let herself off the hook. If her house is fairly clean and organized, great. It doesn't need to be perfect.
I'm going home today to clean the house. But, I'm not sure I'll aim for perfection. :) I think there are many times in life where we ALL need to let ourselves off the hook a little. (And probably as many times that we need to make ourselves MORE responsible/accountable!)

And that's all I have to say about that! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Playing Catch-Up!

Another Tell-All Tuesday and me, with nothing to tell!!!

Here's something not everyone knows....everyone who reads this does, but that's ok. Deal with it. :)

I own a clapper. I'm 31 years old, able-bodied, and I have a clapper. I didn't really buy the clapper because I was lazy. Well, maybe a little. I bought the clapper because I am cheap. You see, I have this TV in my bedroom. It's a special tv that came over with Noah on the ark. It is in fact so old that there are no buttons to push, only knobs to turn. There is not a remote , universal or otherwise, created that will work with this TV. But the TV works and is in good condition and I didn't want to buy a brand new tv just for the remote! It isn't a tv I use very much anyway.

I ONLY watch this TV when I am folding clothes in my bedroom or when I'm trying to fall asleep and don't have a book to read! The problem with that was by the time I got sleepy enough to turn the tv off and go to bed, I would have to get out of bed to turn it off...which would wake me up and then I'd need to watch more. Didn't work. So, I thought the clapper would be a perfect way to solve my problem. Well, the first time I used it, I watched tv until I got tired so I clapped....and then laughed for the next 45 minutes because all I could picture was that little old lady on TV who advertises the clapper. Well, laughing of course woke me up. I finally got used to the clapping and was able to use the clapper effectively......until I got bronchitis. Guess what happened everytime I coughed in my sleep? You got it! I would wake up to game show noises, gun shots, hysterical laughter and other random things. I have since discovered that you can control the sensitivity of your clapper device. That's a good thing.

So whether this post illustrates my laziness or my creativity, I'm not sure. But I told all! :)

Have a great day!

Oh! The twins are a year old today! What a good day! :)

Mad Music Monday 1.30.06

Well, a whole 24 hours after it was released, I finally got Avalon's newest. I then became ultimately depressed. You see, I used to be in the know. I used to KNOW CCM inside and out. It was my job to know. Well. I'm outta the loop now. I was shocked to see Greg AND Janna on the cover of Avalon. If it weren't for Jody, I'm not sure I'd recognize the group. At any rate, the CD is great - not their best, but still very good! The fact that Russ Taff makes an "appearance" scares me a little, but I like the song, so there ya go.

Aside from that, I've been listening to very little...except NOW, thanks to Brooke and Sarai, I hear Jesus Take the Wheel EVERYTIME I turn on the radio. WHAT THE HECK? I NEVER heard it before and now, it's even on iTunes!!! Geez!

Ok, would love to babble more - and believe me, I could do it - but it's time to teach some kids about Triangles. WoooHooo! Have a FABULOUS day!!!

Favorite Friend Friday

This is going to be hard! I feel so blessed to have the friends that I have. It will be hard to choose one! Can we have lots of Fridays in a row?

Ok, so, my favorite friend for this week is Sabrina Trantham. God SOOOOO blessed me when He sent her my way. Not only did He send me a friend that I trust completely, but He sent her in the form of a co-worker. So I get to see her everyday. We are passionate about the same things. We teach the same way...and the same thing...every minute...of every day. We sooo share a brain! I knew that I was blessed to have her as a friend, but God really reminded me of how great our situation is when He showed me that it was possible for us to not work together. It was a great opportunity to tell her how happy I am to be working with her. We've taught together for 6 years now. I can't imagine teaching with anyone else. (Although, there are a few people we'd like to add to our team!!) God is sooo cool about the friends He sends.

My Favorite Things Thursday

My favorite things today have to do with accomplishments. I love to see a stack of already graded and recorded papers. I love to see plans that are already made neatly waiting in their cubbies. I love to see Daily Powerpoints on disks waiting to be viewed. I love having all of this done for the next week by 3:00 on a Friday afternoon.

More FUN favorite things: I LOVE when it is warm enough to drive around with the windows down and the music blaring. (Although, I don't blare as much as I used to!) I love to sit with friends and eat cookies and laugh - even if we do have to check the calories on those cookies these days!

And one of my most favoritest things in all the world is to be with Spencer and Gavin when they start that belly laugh that only 1 year olds can have! NOTHING in the world beats that sound!

Tell All Tuesdays? Seriously?

My friends who have started the Themed Blog have decided that this is Tell All Tuesday. I wasn't consulted. :) Tell All. OK. So, what do I want to tell people that most people don't know, yet I don't mind posting on the internet where anyone in the world could see. . This should be simple, right? right

Well, here is something, and some people know this, but not most....MOST everyone knows that I was engaged before. MOST people don't know that I was proposed to in a graveyard! I realize now, in hindsight, that this should have been the first omen of the relationship's future, but then, I just thought it was a little weird, but pretty. You really had to be there...it was snowing, there was an angel. It wouldn't matter if I drew you a picture. It would still just be weird to everyone else.

That's not very exciting news...but there it is.

Seriously? I have to come up with something new every Tuesday?! Gosh. I hope my life gets more exciting between now and next Tuesday.

Ok, well, I'm off to teach a Sign Language Class and then home to crawl into bed in my unheated house and watch TWO HOURS of American Idol! WooooHooooo!

The One with the Beginning

So, I have succumbed to the peer pressure and created my own blog. What I have to say...I'm not really sure. And who wants to read it? I'm even LESS sure. But here I am, in all my spare time, typing random words for even more random people to read. Go figure! Maybe this is a good outlet. I talk all day long because I want my students to hear...they don't listen. So maybe I can get someone to pay attention to me here! :)

In reading my best friends' blogs, I have noticed a fun new trend - a trend that appeals to the AR/OCD part of me. A theme blog!! And today's theme, apparently, is music.

I woke up this morning singing, "Unadulterated Loathing" from the Wicked Soundtrack. Don't ask me what that meant about the beginning of my day, but it was in my head when I got out of bed. Go figure. I spent the rest of the day listening to K-Love Radio over my iTunes at school. And then the new FFH album, which I am still trying very hard to get into. Sometimes, I really like their sound. Other times...I really think they're whiney. Today was a whiney day! I do like the last "song" on the album although, it really isn't a song. It's a narration over the music, talking about how Jesus really connected to people by encouraging them and even just calling them by "name" - "brother" or "daughter" (which makes me think of one of my favorite stories, the story of the woman who touched the hem of his garment causing Him to turn and seek her out...the woman who had been "unclean" for so many years...untouched..unloved. I can only imagine how her heart leapt when HE searched for HER and then, when He found her, He called her DAUGHTER. THAT'S the amazing love we sing about!!) Anyway...the "song" goes on to talk about how God connected in the same way with Jesus- "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased"...and how it was JESUS that God was pleased with. This was before He had performed any miracles. It wasn't His action, but His being that pleased the Lord. It's just the kind of inspirational message that makes me want to connect more with my God and then to connect with others through Him. It's very cool and if you haven't listened to it...well, you should!

Ok. So apparently, I had something to say. :) Unfortunately, now I must stop. The oil man didn't come again today which means my house is still CRAZILY cold and this room is the coldest! And my fingers are frozen in keyboard position!! So I'm off! Can't wait to see the theme my friends have cooked up for tomorrow!!